Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) The Congress will raise the electoral bonds issue in the ensuing parliament session and also move a breach of privilege motion against the then minister of state for finance for lying in the House, party spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi said on Tuesday.

Briefing mediapersons here, he said the Modi government had found out a new money laundering route through "electoral bonds" with the help of corporates.

New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) The government on Tuesday avoided a direct reply on whether it has taken steps to confer Bharat Ratna on Sangh Parivar idealogue Veer Savarkar but said recommendations for the country's highest civilian award are received regularly from various quarters.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told Lok Sabha that no formal recommendation for giving Bharat Ratna is necessary.

Amaravati, Nov 19 (PTI) The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday enhanced the financial assistance to each of the Christians and Muslims undertaking pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Haj respectively.

Minorities Welfare Department Principal Secretary Mohd Ilyas Rizvi issued two separate orders in this regard.

Bijnor (UP), Nov 19 (PTI) A 15-year-old girl hanged herself from the ceiling of her room here on Tuesday, a day after she was allegedly raped by two men of her village, police said.

Her mother alleged that the girl was raped on Monday and she narrated the incident to her sister on Tuesday morning and later hanged herself, they said.

Station House Officer Ashutosh Kumar said the body has been sent for post-mortem and the matter is being investigated.

The SHO said police are trying to trace the accused, who are absconding.

Imphal, Nov 19 (PTI) Normal life was crippled in Manipur on Tuesday in an 18-hour shutdown called to protest against the proposed Citizenship Ammendment Bill (CAB) which is likely to introduced in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

The shutdown was called jointly by Manipur People Against Citizenship Ammendment Bill (MANPAC) and North East Forum for Indigenous People (NEFIP) and there was no report of any untoward incident during the strike, which ended at 6 pm Tuesday, the police said.

Mumbai, Nov 19 (PTI) The auction of two plush properties of late gangster and drug trafficker Iqbal Mirchi here was cancelled on Tuesday due to lack of proper bids, an official said.

The Ministry of Finance's office did not got proper bids for the two flats, leading to cancellation of their auction, he said.

Kohima, Nov 19 (PTI) Normal life was affected in Nagaland on Tuesday evening following an 18-hour bandh call by two organisations against the proposed tabling of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

The bandh called by the North East Forum for Indigenous People (NEFIP) and Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigrants (JCPI) began at 6 PM and will end at 12 noon on Wednesday.

Noida (UP), Nov 19 (PTI) The last two absconding men of the total five accused in the gang rape and assault of a 21-year-old woman in the city last week were arrested here on Tuesday, the Noida police said.

The duo -- Guddu and Shyamu -- both in their early 20s, were the first ones to rape the woman on the evening of November 13 near a park in sector 63 here.

They had then called three other friends who too forced themselves on the victim, the police said.

New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) Former Jammu and Kashmir governor N N Vohra on Tuesday said the extent of academic loss in the union territory was huge and it brought bad reputation to the valley.

He said this referring to some past "disruptions" in Jammu and Kashmir that resulted in such loss for a large number of students there.

Vohra was speaking at a discussion on "Kashmir after 370", organised by think tank Observer Research Foundation.

New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) Their American dream shattered and huge savings wasted, nearly 150 Indians returned home broke on Wednesday after being deported for either violating visa norms or illegally entering the United States.

As they stepped outside the airport, one after the other, they appeared sad. Some said they felt dejected that they could not realise their American dream even after several attempts.

"This was the fourth time I have been deported," said Singh Jabarjung, 24, from Punjab's Bhatinda.